Battle of Caldiero (1805) - Battle

Battle

Masséna was planning to wait for Verdier's flanking maneuver before committing to a frontal attack, but Archduke Charles took the initiative, attacking on both flanks of the French army. Taking with him the cavalry he had available, Simbschen made the first move against Molitor, descending the slope of the Colognola heights and approaching Ca dell'Ara. On the other side of the battlefield, Nordmann moved forward too, following the river line of the Adige. Molitor moved forward himself and his forces clashed with Simbschen's, forcing the latter back up the slopes of the Colognola Alta. Just as the French were coming up the slope in order to assault that position, the Austrians were reinforced by troops sent by Bellegarde and thus could repulse the French attack, pushing them into the ravine. A second French assault would also fail and the fighting would continue throughout much of the day, with the Austrians remaining masters of the heights.

In the centre, general Gardanne belatedly formed his men and painstakingly fought his way up towards Caldiero against a determined Bellegarde. Gardanne's first attempt failed and he was forced to fall back on Rotta, where he was immediately reinforced by Partounneaux and d'Espagne. With his force thus augmented, Gardanne moved forward again and this time the French managed to take the vital position of Caldiero. A furious Austrian counterattack regained the position only to see Gardanne receive further reinforcements, one of Duhesme's brigades, which helped retake Caldiero. Bellegarde reformed his men for another counterattack, which he led in cooperation with Reuss-Plauen's forces, which had just come up as reinforcements. It took a considerable effort from the combined forces of Bellegarde and Reuss-Plauen to drive the French out of Caldiero, but Gardanne sounded the charge and regained control of the village after fierce hand-to-hand combat. The Austrians finally evacuated the position and the exhausted French drove them out and then fell back to the relative safety of the village.

On the French right, general Duhesme moved early against the forces of prince Reuss-Plauen and moved his first brigade (Goullus) against the Austrians at Gombione. However, Duhesme saw the situation on his left rapidly deteriorating and was thus forced to send Herbin's brigade in support of Gardanne's assault of Caldiero. While Herbin's brigade would be in the thick of the fighting until nightfall, Goullus' would spend the day covering the position at Gombione.

To the extreme right, general Verdier was operating the flanking maneuver as ordered, when he learned that Davidovich had crossed the Adige at Bonavigo and was on the right bank with a part of his troops. Verdier promptly abandoned his initial plan of crossing at Perzacco and instead decided to cross the river right away at Zevio. However, instead of striking at the back of Nordmann's force, as he had hoped Verdier found himself facing the bulk of Nordmann's troops, which soon forced the French back across the river.

As night fell, combat ceased, with the Austrians already disengaged in most sectors of the battlefield. Archduke Charles decided against renewing battle the next day and began pulling out during the night.